GAZA, Palestine

Israel has been using “unusual weapons” that cause severe burns to the bodies of victims, Gaza’s Health Ministry said Sunday.

Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said in a statement that “medical staff monitored the usage of unusual weapons that caused severe burns to the bodies of the martyrs and wounded.”

Israel has not commented so far on the statements.

in a separate statement, al-Qudra warned of “serious complications” that could claim the lives of more than 1,000 patients with kidney failure if fuel supplies are not made available to hospitals and the healthcare sector.

“Failure to introduce fuel to hospitals will cause serious complications that will result in the lives of 1,100 kidney failure patients, including 38 children,” he said.

He called on citizens who "have any amount of diesel to urgently donate fuel to hospitals to save the lives of the wounded and sick."

The Israeli army continues to target Gaza with intensive airstrikes that have destroyed entire neighborhoods, killing 4,651 Palestinians, including 1,873 children and 1,023 women, and injuring 14,245, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

An unspecified number of people are also trapped under the rubble.

The conflict in Gaza, which has been under Israeli bombardment and a blockade since Oct. 7, began when the Palestinian group Hamas initiated Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, a multi-pronged surprise attack that included a barrage of rocket launches and infiltrations into Israel by land, sea and air.

It said the incursion was in retaliation for the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque and growing violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians.

The Israeli military then launched Operation Swords of Iron against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip.

More than 1,400 Israelis have been killed in the conflict.